CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State volleyball associate head coach Mark Barnard has been tabbed as the head coach of the Australian Women’s Volleyroos team for Volleyball Australia, it was announced Thursday.

Barnard, who will remain an associate head coach at OSU during the assignment, will guide the team as it competes at the World Grand Prix competition to be held in Kazakhstan and Croatia in July/August 2014. The team is competing at this level for the first time in more than a decade.

“It’s a great opportunity to go back and do it again,” said Barnard, who has served as both an assistant and head coach of Australian women’s team. “It has worked out well that the International season has come at a downtime for the collegiate season. It’s a great opportunity to get more experience at the head coaching level and for professional development.”

Barnard has been with Oregon State for nine seasons, and, after joining the program in 2005, was promoted to associate head coach in 2008.

A native of Sydney, Australia, Barnard was an assistant for the National Team from 1997-00, including the Sydney Olympics. During that time Barnard also served as head coach of the women’s national junior team (1999-2000) and women’s national youth team (1997-99). In 2001, he led the National Team of Australia to its first qualification to the World Championships in over 20 years. At its height, the Australian team was ranked No. 12 in the world.

“This is a great honor for Mark,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “It’s a testament to him that he was hired back after they dropped their indoor program. I’m glad that it was able to be worked out that he could serve as head coach and still be the associate head coach at Oregon State.”

For more information on the Oregon State volleyball team, follow the club’s official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeavsVolleyball or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateVolleyball.